


Lost Boy

by PJO_Fangirl_13



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Other, Percy being a dad, Things Don't Go As Planned, the youngest Jackson kid goes to a high school party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29479818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PJO_Fangirl_13/pseuds/PJO_Fangirl_13
Summary: The phone rings for a few seconds before it crackles and then:"Hello?" a familiar voice says from the other line.He holds back a sob of relief. "Dad?""Leander?" his dad asks, clearly confused. "Isn't it uncool to call your dad at a party?""I'm not at a party.""Where are you?"Leander looks around as lightning flashes after the thunder rumbles. "I-I don't know. I need you to pick me up. Please."Or, the one where Leander Jackson goes to his first high school party, but things go down hill pretty quickly, and he ends up calling his dad on a payphone
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	Lost Boy

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon Percy and Annabeth having three children:
> 
> Anthea Jackson (oldest) (blonde hair, green eyes)  
> Priya Jackson (middle) (black hair, grey eyes)  
> Leander Jackson (youngest) (blonde hair, grey eyes)
> 
> I don't really have any reasons for why I chose those names. Just thought they were cute, and when I put them in, they just seemed to fit.

As Leander's walking out the door, his mom appears in the entryway, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, her curly blonde hair tied up into her usual ponytail. Sh'es drying her hands on a dish towel as she calls out to him, "stay safe!" 

"I will," Leander tells her exasperatedly, but before he can close the door, his older sister pops her head out of the kitchen, a smirk on her lips as she shouts: 

"Don't get drunk and knock up any poor girl!" 

"Priya!" his mom scolds her as he closes the door with a chuckle. His family was something else. 

Leander enters the elevator across the hall and punches in the ground floor, watching as the doors slide close before anyone else can enter. His foot taps along to the awful, muffled music playing from an old speaker, and he's grateful when the doors open with a ding because they really need to get better elevator music that isn't torture to the ear drums.

After giving the doorman, Darrel, a quick nod, Leander exits through the front doors and walks over to where his friend, Layton, is parked beside the curb. Layton looks up from his phone as Leander knocks on the window, and smiles, unlocking the door, and Leander slides into the passenger seat, buckling up before Layton hits the gas. 

"Some building you live in." Layton whistles appreciatively. 

"Yeah," Leander says, laughing nervously. 

"So... excited?" 

"Nervous." 

"Don't be!" his friend exclaims, taking a right turn. "You'll have fun." 

Leander smiles. "I hope so." 

He's on his way to his first ever house party, hosted by some junior he doesn't know, since high school had started a couple weeks ago. The invite had come from his sophomore friend, Layton, who had gotten his license over the summer, and to Leander's shock, when he'd brought it up to his parents during dinner the previous night, they'd allowed him to go without so much as a small argument as to why he shouldn't go. His mom had offered to drive him, and though Leander didn't necessarily have an issue with it, he figures the other kids would find it uncool if he'd arrived with his mom, so he'd declined and asked Layton for a ride instead. Of course, his friend had agreed right away. 

Ten minutes after watching tall buildings and sky scrapers pass by in a flash, Layton pulls into a parking lot packed with cars. Leander thinks they're lucky to even find a vacant spot. His grey eyes travel to the building the party is being held in and the breath hitches in his throat. "This place is huge!" he says in astonishment as he follows Layton up to the front doors where a doorman dressed in a suit and tie, unlike Darrel, lets them inside. 

"Yeah. I forgot to mention that Aaron, the junior hosting the party, lives in a pent house." 

"How do you forget to mention something like that?" 

Layton shrugs and presses the up arrow beside the elevator doors, stepping inside seconds later when they open, waiting for Leander to enter before punching in the buttons for the second floor. Leander allows himself to examine the small space, his jaw still slacked. Even the elevator is fancy with it's blood read carpet and golden walls with intricate designs sketched in silver, and the shiny metallic buttons lining the wall beside the doors to the right. And he listens to the music carefully, eyes widening when he notices they're playing good music! 

"You look like a child on Christmas morning," Layton laughs. 

"If the elevator is this nice, I'm anxious to see what the actual living space looks like," Leander tells him, walking around in a circle to get a full view of the elevator, ignoring when Layton laughs harder. 

"You're something else," Layton mutters, smoothing out his blue T-shirt and jeans. 

Leander stops spinning when the doors open and he manages not to let his jaw drop to the floor again when he's met with the sight of the most expensive furniture and appliances he thinks he's ever seen. Who has a water fall in their living room!? As he follows Layton further into the penthouse, Leander sees the spiraling staircase beside the pure white couch and chairs that sit in front of the floor to ceiling windows that overlook the city of Manhattan. The setting sun reflects off the golden railing, casting a warm glow throughout the living room. And to his right is where the dance floor is, teenagers right up against each other as they dance, red cups in hand, to the loud music coming from the large speakers around the house. 

"So food and drinks are in the kitchen," Layton tells him, unaware of the legacy's mental absence as he takes in everything the penthouse has to offer. "There's games and entertainment literally everywhere, and just...stay out of trouble." He pats Leander's shoulder before running off somewhere, disappearing into the crowd. 

After overcoming his shock, Leander stands there awkwardly, not really sure what he's supposed to do with himself, and clutches his phone tightly in his shorts' pocket. He rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet, looking around for something to occupy himself with, and only then does he realize how many people are there. They're everywhere; dancing, drinking, playing games, and there's a couple on the couch making out. For a few minutes Leander's really tempted to call his mom or sister to come pick him up, because this is not his environment. 

He had came to this party thinking Layton was going to be by his side until they left, guiding him through what to do and not what to do. But, guess not. Now, Leander's left all alone to figure out what to do until Layton's ready to leave. And so far, he's got nothing. 

Leander takes his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it, going to contacts. He scrolls through the names (there's not many) until he finds Mom, and he stares at it for a few seconds, debating whether or not she should leave. Well, Leander's already here... he should make something out of it, right? Stuffing his phone back into the pocket, Leander ventures further into the house, towards the kitchen where he can at least find something to drink. 

On the way, some drunk person bumps into him and offers to play beer pong with them and a few others. Leander kindly declines with a small smile and the girl, offended, stomps off towards the ping pong table in the far corner. 

He makes it to the kitchen and grabs one of the red cups, bringing it up to his nose and smelling it, but his face scrunches up in disgusts as the strong stench of alcohol reaches his nostrils. Dumping its contents out in the sink, Leander rinses the cup out before refilling it with water and taking a sip out of it. He's too young to drink, obviously, but if he could, he'd choose not to. Come to think of it, no one in his family drinks. 

As he's sipping his non-alcoholic drink, Leander leans against the counter and settles for scrolling through Instagram until he comes up with an idea of what to do, or until he spots Layton in the throng of people. He likes his older sister, Anthea's, most recent post; a selfie of her and her best friend, Evangeline, standing in front of the Columbia University sign. 

He sees something out of the corner of his eyes, and turns to get a clearer look, not really understanding why this random movement caught his attention, but when Leander sees who it is, he spits the water right back into his cup. 

Jimmy Thompson and his two evil minions, Troy Anderson and Ethan Jones. They're stepping out of the crowd of dancing teenagers, clothes sticking to them from sweat, red cups overflowing with alcohol in their hands, and laughing their disgusting laughs as they catch sight of some skinny kid who's physique doesn't look much different from Leander's. Walking over to the poor kid who's having a conversation with a blonde girl, he says something that makes the kid walk away with his head hung low and Leander's disgusted. 

They're probably the meanest kids he's ever came across in his entire life. And he's gotten into some heated arguments with the Ares campers back at Camp Half-Blood, but they don't terrify him nearly as much as those three boys do. And it just so happens that Leander has been their number one target since seventh grade when he'd transferred after getting kicked out of his old school during sixth grade. 

Leander quickly turns back around and pulls the hood attached to the black hoodie he's wearing over his head, hiding his recognizable blond curly hair, and goes back to looking through Instagram. Despite the nervousness bubbling in his stomach, he manages to crack a grin as he comments something on Sammy Valdez's post, a video of his not-right-in-the-head dog running into the couch and falling over. 

Someone clears their throat and fear courses through his veins, thinking Jimmy and his minions had seen him a few minutes back, but, thankfully, it's not them. His shoulders relax as he stares into the brown eyes of a pretty girl with dark skin and spring like curly black hair that falls passed her shoulders, ending at her elbows. Leander's not really one for starting conversations so he stares at her awkwardly until she says, "You looked lonely." 

"Yeah," Leander says and tucks his phone away. "My friend ditched me." 

Her eyes shine nothing but understanding. "Yeah. Me too." 

"Sucks," he says.

"Yeah." She nods. 

Awkward silence follows and Leander looks around for Layton once again but starts to give up when he notices that more people have arrived, making it almost impossible to recognize anyone but Jimmy and his minions who have tucked themselves in a corner, smirking and laughing evilly as they picked fun at random people. 

"What's your name?" the girl asks, snapping him back to reality.

He looks back at her and sticks his hand out hesitantly. "Leander. Leander Jackson." 

She shakes his hand. "I'm Anyssa. Anyssa Sallow." 

"So," Leander starts, placing his hand back at his side. "How'd you get wrapped up here?" 

"My older sister," Anyssa tells him, "since it's my first year at high school, she asked if I wanted to tag along, though I didn't have much of a choice with her." She rolls her eyes. "She's a senior and probably sucking face with her boyfriend upstairs. You?" 

"My friend, Layton. He's a sophomore." 

"Cool." 

They're silent until someone calls her names and she looks over to the living room where five teenagers are sat in a circle, a girl who resembles Anyssa waves her over. Anyssa announces she's going to go play suck and blow with them, and invites him to come along, and Leander's about to accept her offer when his hood is suddenly yanked off him and he drops his cup, water spilling on the hardwood floor, as he's yanked back into the counter. 

Spinning around, Leander's ready to tell the person off, but the words die in his throat as he stares into familiar, evil glinted, blue eyes. "I thought I saw you, Jackson," Jimmy's words are slurred as he takes a sip of whatever beverage is in his cup, and he smirks when Leander's eyes widen in fright. "Turns out I was right." 

Leander keeps his mouth shut, not knowing what to say. 

"How'd you get invited?" Jimmy asks. 

"My friend invited me," Leander tells him. 

Jimmy gives his evil minions, Troy and Ethan an amused glance over his shoulder before turning back to Leander, laughing. "Your friend invited you?" He looks around sarcastically. "Well, I don't see anyone. Let me guess, he ditched you just like everyone else?" 

Ouch. 

Leander's hands curl into fists but he keeps them tucked in his pockets. "Not everyone ditches me," he says, though he sounds as if he's trying to tell himself that and not Jimmy. 

"Oh yeah?" Jimmy raises an eyebrow. "How many friends do you have?" 

As if how many really matters, Leander thinks as he stays quiet. Most his friends are at Camp Half-Blood, so he only sees them during the summer before they all head back to their homes in different states across the country, but he can't tell Jimmy that. 

"None," Jimmy tells him slowly and Troy and Ethan snicker behind him. 

Leander stares at him. 

"Did you hear me? Do I need to write it down so you can read it?" Jimmy cracks an evil grin as realization dawns on him. "Oh wait. You can't read." He turns to his friends, laughing. "I can't believe I almost forgot about that!"

"I can...read," Leander defends himself, wincing when Jimmy spins back around to face him. 

It's not necessarily a lie. He can read. Just not English. Priya, his older sister, struggles with the same issue that is dyslexia. Their brains are hardwired for Ancient Greek so they both read Greek just fine without any issues. English, that's another story. The letters just switch and scramble on the paper making it impossible to read or write, so most days neither him or Priya get work done at school and have to do it all at home when their parents can sit down and help translate since they also struggle with the learning disability. Thankfully, this year, their parents had somehow managed to find all their textbooks in Greek. 

"Prove it." Jimmy shoves an empty beer can in Leander's face. "Read the ingredients." 

With a shaky hand, Leander grabs the can and turns it around to the ingredients, his eyes dancing across the small letters. He can already feel a headache erupting in his forehead as the letters start to scramble when he tries to read them in his head, and before the headache worsens, Leander sets the can down on the counter. He glares up at Jimmy. "I don't have to prove you anything." 

Jimmy's eyes widen before he grins. "So you really can't read, huh? How dumb are you." 

Double ouch. 

Something pricks the corners of his eyes. "I"m not dumb. I have dyslexia." 

"That sounds made up to me." Jimmy turns to his evil minions. "Does it sound made up to you?" 

Troy and Ethan murmur in agreement. 

"It's real." Anyssa steps up next to Leander and he gives her a grateful smile, though she's not looking at him. Instead she's glaring at Jimmy as she says, "It's a learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading and sometimes writing and spelling. It causes people to reverse letter and numbers, and even see words backwards. My grandmother has it." 

Jimmy rolls his eyes. "Oh, now you're making stuff up to." 

Leander sighs and glances at Anyssa. "You can go." 

"I'm not leaving you with these bullies." Anyssa looks at him like he's crazy. 

Not wanting her to get roped into this mess, or Jimmy to start picking on her too, Leander reassures her, "I'll be fine. Don't ruin your night because of me." He gives her a small smile. 

Anyssa stares at him for a long moment before she sighs. Giving him a curt nod and after sending Jimmy and his evil minions the finger, she spins around and heads into the living room where her older sister and her friends are still playing suck and blow. 

"Hate to break it to you," Jimmy says and Leander snaps his attention back to the bully in front of him, watching in disgust as he takes another long drink of the alcoholic beverage. "But that girl is only being nice to you because she pities you." 

Leander glances back at Anyssa and finds her laughing with her sister after they'd accidentally kissed when the card fell from between them, then looks back at Jimmy with tears in his eyes but he quickly blinks them away before he can see. "You're wrong," he tells him but his voice wavers as his fists begin to shake in his pockets. 

Jimmy laughs. "News flash: no one likes you. No one. Even your friend who brought you here left you. Why even try to deny it? You know it's true. Just give up." 

His vision clouds with tears and this time, he doesn't blink them away.

"Good talk, Jackson." Before he leaves with his minions following close behind, Jimmy splashes the rest of his drink on Leander's favorite black hoodie and now he's going to have to explain to his mom why he smells like alcohol, and he's not looking forward to that conversation. 

Leander stutters out a breath and before all the plumbing explodes due to the anger coursing through his veins, he kicks his cup to the side and marches out the door, not caring to find Layton or say goodbye to Anyssa, and steps into the elevator, his toxic thoughts blocking out the good music. 

By the time he gets outside, muttering a "thank you" to the doorman- because no matter how upset he is, his mother still raised him to be polite- who held the door open for him, it's dark out and Leander realizes he doesn't have a ride home. His shoulders slump and he starts down the sidewalk, looking for anything that seems to look familiar, but doesn't find any. 

He's a few blocks away from the penthouse when he decides it's time to just call someone, probably Priya, to come pick him up. But when he takes his phone out of his pocket and turns it on, the dead battery signs stares right back at him and he practically growls in frustration as he stuffs it angrily into his pocket. 

That's the breaking part and angry tears start spilling from his eyes and racing down his cheeks as he continues to walk down the sidewalk with nothing but a celestial bronze sword disguised as a pen to keep him safe if anything were to happen. But even that wouldn't protect him against mortal gang members or robbers, or harassers, or anyone! He's out in the dark somewhere in Manhattan with no idea of where he is, crying like a little boy who's ice cream fell off the cone, and to make matters worse, thunder rumbles through the sky right before it starts to pour. 

"Thanks," Leander mutters dryly towards the sky. 

His tears mix with the raindrops and he harshly wipes it away with his sleeve, sniffling. Soon, the rain soaks through his clothes and he's wrapping his arms around himself to keep himself warm as he looks for anything familiar. He has no money so he can't call a cab and his phone is dead so he can't call his sister or his parents. Tonight is really not his night. 

A few minutes pass and Leander's completely drenched head to toe. Lightning flashes, causing him to flinch, but over the course of the second it flashed, he sees something that looks like a phone booth a block down, and Leander breaks into a sprint. Puddles splash around his feet as he runs and Leander stutters to a stop, sighing in relief when he realizes it is a payphone. 

Leander searches his pockets and he's lucky enough to find a quarter in the pocket of his hoodie and he inserts the coin to the machine with shaky, cold fingers. Taking the phone off the receiver, he holds it up to his ear as he dials in an all too familiar phone number he's had mesmerized ever since he'd been a little boy. Now he's just a lost boy. 

The phone rings for a few seconds before it crackles and then: 

"Hello?" a familiar voice says from the other line. 

He holds back a sob of relief. "Dad?" 

"Leander?" his dad asks, clearly confused. "Isn't it uncool to call your dad at a party?" 

"I'm not at a party." 

"Where are you?" 

Leander looks around as lightning flashes after the thunder rumbles. "I-I don't know. I need you to pick me up. Please." 

"Are you lost?" his dad asks and Leander can hear the faint sound of papers shuffling, a door closing, and the jingle of car keys, and Leander suddenly remembers that his dad had been working late. 

"Yeah," Leander says, holding the phone tighter, knuckles turning white, when a stranger in a yellow rain coat walks passed, giving him an odd look. They're probably wondering what fourteen year old kid like him is doing in the middle of no where at a payphone in the middle of the thunderstorm. "Can you come get me?"

He can hear the car engine rumble in the background on his dad's end of the phone. "Yes, but I need you to tell me where you are. Look around and describe anything you see to me so I can figure out where you are." 

Leander glances around. "Buildings?" 

His dad laughs. "Good. You're still in New York." 

He makes a face even though his dad isn't there to see it. Usually, Leander would laugh at his dad's sassy replies, but now really isn't the time for jokes. Leander continues to look around the streets. "Um, there's a large clock at the corner of the sidewalk and a movie theater across the street." His eyes travel to what's in front of him. "And I'm standing in front of a bank." 

There's a pause on the other end and he's scared his dad hung up when he says, "Okay, I think I know where you are. I'm on my way." 

"Okay. Hurry. I'm scared." 

"You have your sword?" 

"Yes." 

"Good. I'll be there soon." 

They hang up and Leander puts the phone back on the receiver before leaving the phone booth and sliding down to the wet sidewalk, leaning against the box. After putting his hood over his head, Leander pulls his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs as he shivers, trying to keep himself warm, and he seriously hopes his dad knows where he is. 

About ten minutes pass- he thinks- when he sees headlights coming down the street to the left and a car pulls up the curb. Leander stands, trying to see into the windows to make sure it's his dad, but through the rain and darkness, he can barely make out the car itself. But the drivers seat door opens and a dark haired man with bright sea green eyes he can see from a mile away steps outside and runs over to him. 

Leander sobs in relief and runs to his dad, throwing his arms around his middle, and he cries against his chest as his dad smooths his hand over his curls- the hood had fallen off when he'd ran- while his other hand rubs his back soothingly. Leander pulls back after his dad presses a kiss to the top of his head. "I thought- I thought-" 

"It's okay. You're okay," his dad comforts as he unzips his light jackets, taking it off only to put it around Leander's shoulders. He grabs Leander's arm and looks around wearily before walking with him to the car and he opens the passenger door for him, and Leander slides inside, rubbing his hands together near the heater as his dad closes the door. 

His dad slides into the drivers seat and they both buckle up before he starts driving down the street, turning the heat up for Leander who's desperately trying to warm his hands up that had turned white from being so cold. "So," his dad starts as he takes a left turn, "why didn't you go to the party?" 

"I did go," Leander tells him once his teeth stop chattering. "I left early." 

He doesn't really want to talk about it right now, and thankfully, his dad gets the hint as he glances at him through the corner of his eye but doesn't press any further. Comfortable silence settles between them as the music on the radio plays quietly, and Leander leans his head against the window as his dad drives. 

"Thanks, by the way," Leander says, "for picking me up." 

"Of course," his dad responds and turns another corner. 

Leander raises an eyebrow as he drives into a McDonald's parking lot, but his dad doesn't offer any sort of explanation as he pulls into the drive thru. There's a couple cars in front of them but it's no longer than five minutes until the person is speaking to them through the speaker placed outside, asking for their orders. 

His dad turns the music down before asking him, "Have you eaten dinner?" 

"Yeah. Mom made me eat before I left." 

"Figures." His dad turns back to the speakers and orders two medium hot chocolates. The person on the speaker tells him the price before instructing him to go to the second window, and his dad presses down on the gas, slowly driving behind the other two cars. 

Leander's still confused on why they didn't just go home because he's pretty certain they have hot chocolate there, but he stays silent. Besides, he's not complaining. They very rarely ever get anything from McDonald's, so he'll take it when he does. 

They pull up to the second window and the woman who looks a few years older than Leander, around Anthea's age, hands his dad the two hot chocolates before asking for the payment. His dad hands him his hot chocolate, setting his own down in the cup holder before handing the lady whose name tag reads Annie his credit card. She swipes it, taps a couple things on the register, before handing it back to him and telling them to have a good night. 

"Thanks," Leander says once again as they're back on the road, and he's using the still too-hot-to-drink hot chocolate to warm his still cold fingers. 

His dad smiles. "You're welcomed. Thought it was appropriate." 

"You were right," Leander says and narrows his eyes when he realizes his dad isn't driving them home, but in the opposite direction. He looks at the clock where 11:16 p.m. shines from and he starts to panic as he pictures his mother's worried face. "Uh, did you let Mom know you were picking me up because I told her I'd be home by now." 

"Yes, I told her," his dad laughs and brings the hot chocolate up to his lips, taking a sip and he nods before setting it back down. "It should be good to drink now." 

Leander holds the cup up to his lips and takes a small sip, sighing when the warm liquid gives his body an internal hug. Yes, his dad had been definitely right. Hot chocolate was totally appropriate right now, even if it's only September. "So... where are we going?" 

"On a little road trip," his dad answers. 

Accepting that answer, Leander leans into his seat, occasionally taking sips of the cooling hot chocolate as he watches buildings and houses pass by in a blur. When a Led Zeppelin song starts playing five minutes later, his dad turns the volume up and starts singing, and Leander can't help but laugh at his bad voice. 

"Hey, what's so funny?" Percy asks over the loud music. 

"You're singing is terrible!" Leander laughs. 

"Gee, thanks." His dad rolls his eyes but continues to sing nonetheless. 

The song ends and his dad turns the music down a tad bit more as he turns down an empty road and Leander has a small inkling of an idea where they're heading. His suspicions are confirmed as his dad drives the car into the parking lot that overlooks that beach they've gone to many, many times over the years Leander's been alive. The waves are calm and the moonlight shining down on the water causes the waves that lap against the shore to glitter, and Leander thinks it's so beautiful. He feels the same comfort he feels every time he visits the beach. 

"So," his dad breaks the silence, holding the hot chocolate cup in both hands as he leans back in his seat, turning his head to look at Leander. "Do you want to tell me what really happened?" 

Leander gives him a sidelong glance. "Not really." 

"It's either me or mom, kiddo," his dad says. 

"You're just going to tell her anyway," Leander points out." 

His dad stares at him for a second. "Touche." 

There's a couple seconds where they just watch the waves lap against the shore. 

Leander finally breaks. "So, I went to the party. Layton took me as you know." 

"Yeah?" His dad looks at him, raising an eyebrow for him to continue. 

"And as soon as we got there, he ditched me," Leander says, watching his his dad's eyes widen and his jaw set. He knows his parents trusted Layton, so hearing that he'd ditched their son at his first party where he knew no one probably didn't sound to grand to his dad. But before he can say anything, Leander continues, "So I just went to the kitchen and got myself some water, and I promise, it was just water." 

His dad laughs despite the situation. "I believe you." 

"Good. Anyways, I was just hanging out by myself in the kitchen, drinking my non-alcoholic beverage-" he cuts off when his dad lets out an amused snort, and Leander can't help but let out a laugh of his own before he continues to explain how a girl, Anyssa, came up to him and sparked up a conversation, and how she'd been left in the same situation. Only it had been her sister, not a friend. 

"Well, that's nice of her," his dad says and takes a sip of his hot chocolate. "Was she pretty?" 

Leander's cheeks flush. "I hadn't really been thinking about it." 

His dad laughs. "Okay. What else happened?" 

"She invited me to play suck and blow with her sister and her friend," Leander tells his dad who nods along, listening intently. "But then Jimmy and his friends showed up and-" 

"Jimmy?" his dad interrupts, "The same Jimmy that tormented you in seventh grade?" 

Leander nods. "Yeah. Anyway-"

"Hold on," his dad says, "is he still bothering you?" 

"I'm getting to that, Dad," Leander says, exasperated. His dad holds his hands up in surrender and allows him to carry on with his 'story', and Leander tells him all about how Jimmy had teased him about Layton ditching him, and how everyone eventually does. "-and then when Anyssa left after I told her to, he went on about how she's only being nice to me out of pity. After that I left before I destroyed the plumbing." 

His dad is silent for a while. "Why didn't you say this was still going on?" 

"I didn't want to worry you and Mom." Leander looks down guiltily. 

"Hey," his dad says and Leander looks back up at him. His sea green eyes are soft, welcoming, and full of understanding. "We're your parents. It's our job to worry." 

"Yeah. I'm sorry." 

His dad reaches over to ruffle his hair and Leander pushes him away with a laugh. "Don't be sorry. I know how hard it can be to tell anyone you're being bullied." 

Leander can't keep the shock out of his voice as he asks, "You do?" 

"Oh yeah. Your uncle Grover and I were bullied by this girl, Nancy Bobofit, in sixth grade and then in seventh, Matt Sloan bullied uncle Tyson and me," his dad tells him and Leander's eyes widen at this newfound information about his dad he's never known about until now. 

"Oh." Leander blinks. "But you're so cool!" 

His dad laughs. "I know right. Apparently they didn't think so." 

"Was it because you have dyslexia?" 

"No, just picked on me for hanging around Tyson, and once Matt even ripped up a photo I'd kept in my notebook, and Nancy was just mean." His dad frowns. "Why? Was Jimmy picking on you because of your dyslexia?" 

Leander ignores that last part. "A photo of you and Tyson?" 

He swears he sees his dad's cheeks turn red in the darkness. "Uh, no." He chuckles nervously before telling him, "Of Annabeth- I mean, your mom." 

Leander laughs. "You printed out a picture of just Mom and kept it in your notebook?" 

"Yes." 

"And it took you how many years to finally ask her out?" 

"You know what? This conversation is not about me, it's about you, so why don't you answer my question?" 

Leander feigns innocence. "What question?" 

Hid dad rolls his eyes. "Were they making fun of your dyslexia?" 

Leander reluctantly nods. "Yeah. He even told me to prove him I could read by shoving a beer can in my face and telling me to read the ingredients." 

His dad snorts, unimpressed. "Did you?" 

"No." Leander scrunches up his nose at the mere thought of giving that jerk what he wants. "I don't need to prove him anything." 

"You sure don't," his dad agrees and gives him a fist bump. "You don't think you're dumb, do you?" 

Yes. "No." 

Giving him a disbelieving look, his dad says, "Well, you're not dumb. You have passing grades, that's what matters." 

"Yeah, I guess," Leander mutters. 

"Priya struggles," his dad tells him. 

"Anthea doesn't," Leander retorts. "I mean, she's going to college for creative writing." 

His dad hesitates. "Anthea... just got lucky, I guess. Besides, you and Priya are like your mother and I. That's something, right?" 

"I'd rather be able to read... and spell," Leander grumbles. 

They're silent again, draining their now lukewarm hot chocolate. 

"Well," his dad breaks the silence, grinning. "If it makes you feel any better, Bob can't read." 

"Bob is a cat," Leander deadpans. 

"My point ism just because you can't read or write as easily as others, doesn't make you dumb by any means. Look at your mother!" His dad throws his hands in the air for emphasis, his empty hot chocolate cup in the cup holder. "She can't spell for the life of her and she's the smartest person I know."

Leander cracks a smile. "True. She is pretty smart." 

His dad nods in agreement. "She'd kill us if we said otherwise." 

"That," Leander says, "is also true." 

"Anyway, lots of people struggle with it-" 

"What? Their wives and mothers threatening their lives for underestimating their intelligence?" 

His dad blinks at him. "Uh, no. Dyslexia, Leander, dyslexia." 

Leander laughs. "Oh." 

"You're something else, kiddo." his dad shakes his head, chuckling. "What I was trying to say, is everyone struggles with dyslexia, including mortals. So don't let some jerk get to you, okay?" 

Leander nods. "Thanks, Dad." 

"Of course." His dad pauses before saying, "You know I love you, right?" 

"I know. I love you, too," Leander tells him with a smile. 

His dad smiles and turns the car engine back on and starts backing out of the parking lot and to the still empty street that's more busy during the summer. "Now, what do you say we go home and crash the girls' movie night?" 

"I think that's a great idea."


End file.
